Two reviews, people, and I finish the next chapter.

My SINCEREST apologies for the delay.

Feel free to throw pointy things at me. I forgot to mention the fact that I was going away . And then I got ill and spent a long time in bed feeling sorry for myself, and THEN I had just a general writer's block thing. However, I'm continuing with the story and thank you for your patience. Regular updates will now be occurring.

((And we get our first HousexCameron action... read on... ))

A day at work had only confirmed Carly's suspicions. She wasn't stupid, and pretty soon she'd got a hold on the romance situations at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Her dislike for Chase had become quite prominent already, but she had taken a liking to Foreman- who was treating her like a sister.

The three of them had arrived home (House had left early, carefully planning the day to avoid suspicions) and Carly had flipped open her laptop. Cameron had allowed herself a small smile- seemed like her daughter had inherited at least one of her traits.

Hello everybody [she wrote, clicking on a few select friends to add to her list

I've arrived in Princeton, New Jersey and am now living with aunt.

Except she's not my aunt...

She paused, and quickly wrote down a brief summary of the situation. She'd had a whole day to think about it and just needed to get the wheels rolling on her plan- and she needed some help for ideas.

She then illustrated on the situation, and asked for some advice on what she could do to help them, and finally signed off with

Yours,

jinx

She signed it using the online alias that she'd chosen a couple of years back, and slammed shut her laptop, and wandered to the kitchen, opening the fridge. Checking the time, it was still about 2 (House and his team had been sent home early, having completed all possible work) and she still hadn't had lunch.

Ten minutes later, House limped to the kitchen, following the smell of red onions. He saw the teenager stirring a pot on the stove.

"What're you making?" he asked.

"Well, I really felt like a sandwich," she replied, as if that explained everything.

"Okay," he said, then stopped. "Wait, what?"

She turned to him. "Well, you've got cold beef and tomatoes but you can't have a cold beef and tomato sandwich without red onion chutney, right?"

"Cameron!" he yelled. The immunologist ran into the room and he addressed her. "Would you say you had an odd taste in sandwiches?" he asked her.

"Unusual..." she mused. "Hey, are you making some form of beef sandwich?" she asked her daughter as she spotted the mixture.

Women, thought House, really.

Evening rolled around and dinner came and went. The three of them packed away the dishes and cutlery, and Carly went into the bedroom briefly.

jinx, [the email read

From what you wrote, I'm guessing the old favourite should do the trick.

good luck, you deserve a bit of happiness,

H.

Carly wrote back a quick thanks and grabbed a DVD from her holdall.

"Anyone feel like a movie?" she asked as she emerged from the room, brandishing The Phantom of the Opera.

//--++--\\

"Always gets me, that," said Cameron, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye as the closing credits started. Carly stood up and walked over to the piano, propping upon the lid, and played the introduction to a song, looking expectantly at her parents.

"No. No way," said House.

"Go on," giggled Cameron, nudging him. He sighed as the two females' expressions were exactly the same and opened his mouth.

"No more talk of darkness,

forget these wide-eyed fears...

I'm here, with you, beside you,

my words will warm and guide you," he sang. His voice was low and gravelly and Cameron leant against his arm, feeling the words throughout his body as he spoke.

"Say you'll share with me,

one love, one lifetime,

turn my head with talk of

summertime..." she sang. Her voice was clear and sweet, and had obviously been trained from a young age. Gradually, as Carly racked her memory, wishing she'd brought out her sheet music, it approached the end.

"Love me," they sang together, "that's all I ask of you..."

"Unrealistic story," Cameron said, more to herself, as she began dragging her bedding back onto her sofa.

"Oh, I don't know," Carly said, a hint of mischief in her voice. "Disfigured genius meets little prodigee, trains her up and falls in love with her but she runs off, misguided, with a coworke----- handsome young man, unable to see her love for him... might happen more than you'd think. Night, all."

On that note (ha ha), she left for the spare bedroom, crossing her fingers fervently.

"That kid," said House, sinking onto the piano seat and massaging his thigh, "is something else." He looked up at Cameron, expecting to see a smile on her lips, but instead a tear was running down her cheek.

"I always thought I'd be for my child when I had her," she said softly but steadily. "Never thought she'd find out I was her mother at the age of thirteen..." She turned her head softly towards him, and whispered, "how did this happen, House?"

"It started," he said, shaking on the inside, some mysterious instinct guiding him, "something like this..."

And he stood up, bent his head and kissed her softly, feeling the warmth of her skin against his, letting her soft, soft hair fall through his hands, clutching her fragile body against him as though he could never bear to let it go...

//--++--\\

Carly was in for a shock the next morning. She woke up and headed for the kitchen, tying a thick dressing gown firmly around herself, only to arrive and find her mother half-draped against the fridge, giggling, her father kissing her neck.

"Morning," she'd said cheerily, and the two of them had jumped up like teenagers.
"We were---"

"Don't worry," she'd said, with a flash of her eyebrow exactly the way House did, "we've done it in Biology."

That's the end of that chapter.

Please review and tell me if you want more.